Grumpy Monkey Party Time! is part of our Starts With a Story Collection, which includes more than 550 picture book companions based on high quality children’s literature that support you in delivering highly-engaging interactive read alouds with follow up activities. Learn more about this children’s book below! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
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SUMMARY
In "Grumpy Monkey Party Time!" by Suzanne Lang, Jim Panzee, the lovable grumpy monkey, is back and he's not in the mood for a party. Jim's friends, Norman the gorilla and Marabou the bird, are excitedly preparing for a fun-filled celebration, but Jim just can't seem to find his party spirit. Despite the colorful decorations and festive atmosphere, Jim feels overwhelmed and out of place. However, with the support and understanding of his friends, Jim begins to realize that it's okay to feel grumpy and that he doesn't have to force himself to be happy. Instead of joining the dance party, Jim finds other animals who also don't like to dance and they all enjoy the food and each others company instead of dancing. The story reminds readers that it's important to listen to and respect their own feelings, even in the midst of a joyful occasion.
 USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Our read aloud lesson plans for this picture book come with reading comprehension questions (with sample student responses), 30 writing prompts, teaching ideas for grammar skills, social emotional learning discussion ideas, and more. Check out our list below to get a sneak peek at some of the skills this resource teaches.
- Discuss the different characters in the story and analyze their thoughts and actions.
- Help students to analyze what the author’s purpose for writing the book might be.
- Encourage students to use their summarizing and retelling strategies.
- Identify different examples of common nouns in the book.
- Introduce students to proper nouns using examples from the story.
- Teach students how contractions are used.
- Discuss the importance of self-advocacy and strategies students can use to advocate for themselves.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30Â writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
This book is a must have for your school or classroom library. Your students are going to love completing these activities for the book and you will be impressed with how much they learn. You will want to read this book to your class every year.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will love the similar books listed below, which can all be found in our free picture book list.
- Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang
- Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andrade
- The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
- The Bad Seed by Jory John
- The Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
